Lesson video

Hello, Mrs. Wilkinson here.

With the last of our series of 4 lessons on 'Death, be not Proud' by John Donne.

This lesson is all about the language in the poem, the words that the poet chose and why he chose them.

But before we start, make sure you're ready for learning with a pen and some paper, and write on a pencil to underline your titles, and you've got nothing around you that's going to be distracting you, and if you can, try and find a nice quiet space.

So pause the video now if you need to, other wise, we will begin.

This is what we're going to be doing today.

First of all, were going to recap those archaic words, and that means old fashioned words that are in the poem.

Then we're going to look more closely at the language you can word, the specific words in the poem, and then look at what that tells us.

And then we're going to explore the poets choices a little more closely, and we're going to write about them.

Don't forget, you need to finish off with your quiz to check your learning.

So I want you to pause the video in a moment and write this heading as a heading for today.

"Language in 'Death, be not Proud'", and then resume when you're ready.

So this is your first task, you're going to match those old fashioned, those archaic words, with the modern equivalent.

So just write them up, and just do a dash, and then put the modern one.

So pause the video now, and do the task.

So here are the answers, so 'Thee' and 'Thou' they both mean you.

'Canst', means Can.

'Dost' means Do.

'Shalt' means Will.

'Thy' means Your.

'Thinks' means Think, and 'Art' means Are.

So they're all useful ones for any text from this time.

In this lesson, you're going to be using your poetry detective skills again.

You're going to be observant, you're going to be looking for that evidence, and you're going to use that evidence to work things out and solve the puzzle about why the poets used particular words.

So we're looking at the language, we're looking at the word choices this time.

So while we're looking at those language choices, we examine each word really carefully, and we consider the deeper meaning.

So for example, if you saw the word 'Rotten' that could mean something that had gone off, gone a bit bad.

Or it could mean somebody had a rotten character.

If you describe a character as rotten, it could mean that it wasn't very nice.

We also explore the images that Piet the Poet creates with his words.

So for example if you said 'the sun glistened on the deep waters' we get that image in our minds of the beautiful sunlight glistening on the water.

So now you are going to use your observational skills on the poem.

Which two words in the first part of the poem suggest that Death might be considered powerful and terrifying? So 'powerful' and 'terrifying', which two words.

I'm going to put the poem up now.

I want to pause the video, and just have a look at the beginning of the poem there which two words you think make Death powerful and terrifying.

Pause the video now, and just keep them in your mind.

So well done if you picked up 'mighty' and 'dreadful'.

What I want you to do now, is I want you to pause the video and fill in the gaps in this sentence.

So using those words you've just picked out as an example of how we might write about the language in the poem.

So pause the video now, and resume when you're ready.

So well done if you got this.

'The words mighty and dreadful suggest that Death might be considered powerful and terrifying.

' Now you're going to look and see which words show that Donne is trying to make Death seem weak and powerless.

So have a quick look at lines 4 and 9.

So I'm going to leave the poem up for you while you pause the video and have a think.

Line 4 and 9, which words make Death seem weak? Well done if you got 'poor Death.

' Poor Death, it makes it sound like he's feeling sorry for him.

And 'slave'.

A slave is somebody who has to do what he's told.

There is no power.

So what I want you to do now, is pause the video and fill in this sentence using those words that you've just picked out.

So well done if your sentence reads: Donne writes 'poor Death' as if he feels sorry for him.

Death is also described as a 'slave' with no power at all.

Now you're going to think about the image that's created in your mind in the read, you are the reader.

What image in the readers mind does the phrase 'Death, thou shalt die' create? So have a think about that.

This is a line from the very end of the poem.

Now I want you to pause the video and fill in the gaps in this sentence.

So well done if you got: The phrase 'Death thou shalt die' creates an image of death finally dying and no longer having any power over people.

So we're going to look at a type of imagery now called 'Personification'.

A personification is when a writer or a poet gives things that are not human human characteristics and qualities.

So we're going to have a look now at how we'd use that word personification, personify and what that actually means.

So for example, when a writer personifies a dog, he or she would make him able to talk and think like a human.

So what other ways that you'd have to use the word personification would be you'd say 'the writer uses personification throughout the text.

' The trees are personified by the poet when she writes their branches are waving in the breeze.

So branches don't really wave that's a human characteristic they just move, don't they, when the wind blows.

I used personification in my poem when I made the idea, so an idea is not actually a real thing, it's not a solid thing.

It's a concept.

I made the idea of jealousy into a human character.

So these are all examples of personification.

So let's have a check that you understand what personification is.

So pause the video if you need to, have a look at the options here and then resume when you're ready to give your answer.

So well done, if you gave option 2.

Personification is when something non-human is given human characteristics.

So let's have a look at these examples.

Which one of these is personification? So pause the video if you want to have a little think, and resume when you're ready.

Okay, so, let's have little think.

'The wind howled through the trees.

' So you're going to give me a thumbs up if you think that is personification, and a thumbs down if you think that's not personification.

So, yes, that is personification, because howling, the wind doesn't really howl, that is a human characteristic, the wind just makes a strange noise, doesn't it.

Number 2.

'Lightning burnt the tree.

' Is that personification or not? So no, that's not personification because that is telling the truth isn't it, so lightning will burn a tree.

Option 3.

'My alarm clock yelled at me.

' Is that personification? Yes.

So alarm clocks don't yell, they just ring don't they.

They make a noise to wake you up.

And finally, option 4.

'The man drowned in the sea.

' Is that personification or not? And no.

That isn't personification because that it just true.

Somebody might drown in the sea.

So well done if you got those two as personification.

So now where going to look at finding personification in the poem.

What evidence is there in the poem that Death is a character? So right from the beginning, the poet, Donne addresses Death directly.

'Death be not proud'.

So that comma is like the beginning of a letter.

And be not proud, proud means arrogant, or too big for your boots, so Death is given a human characteristic.

So right from the beginning of the poem we have that personification.

And then all the way through the poem Donne uses the words 'thee' and 'thou'.

'For those whom though think'st thou dost overthrow'.

Those people you think are dying.

So he's directly talking to Death as if he was a person, and he's giving him a human characteristic again.

So thinking would be a human characteristic not an abstract idea.

I am right at the end, the same sort of thing.

'Death, thou shalt die'.

So he's given a very sort of specific address there.

Death, you're going to die, and again dying is a human characteristic.

So using the evidence we've just discussed, I want you to complete the following sentences.

At the beginning of the poem, throughout the poem, and at the end of the poem.

And you're going to be talking about the personification of Death.

You're going to put your quotes and inverted commas, and you're going to add this to your earlier work.

So here is the poem, so that you can use your quotes.

So pause the video now, and complete your task.

So here is a suggested answer for the first one.

At the beginning of the poem, Donne addresses Death directly as if he is talking to a real person: 'Death be not proud'.

Donne tells Death not to be proud, which is a human characteristic.

And then the second one.

Throughout the poem, Donne continues to talk to Death directly using 'thee' or 'thou', as if he was a real person.

And finally, at the end of the poem, Donne addresses Death again in a similar way to the beginning of the poem.

'Death, thou shalt die'.

Donne tells Death he will die, just like a human would die.

So now to finish off, our last task, you're going to write about personification in the poem, and you're going to just fill in the gaps in the paragraph, and you're going to use the words 'personification' and 'personified' correctly.

It'll be using ideas from the lesson, and using the correct quotes from the poem.

You might need to check back to recap.

So here is the paragraph.

So you're going to pause the video now and fill in your paragraph.

So well done if you filled in your paragraph correctly like this.

'Donne begins by addressing the poem to Death, as if he is a person.

The personification makes him into a character that we can visualise.

Throughout the poem, Donne creates vivid images of Death.

Although Death is presented as 'mighty' and 'dreadful' at the beginning of the poem, he gradually loses his power.

The image of Death becomes one of a 'slave', who has to do what he is told by 'fate, chance, kings and desperate men'.

By the end of the poem Donne states: 'Death, thou shalt die'.

As Death has been personified, it is possible to visualise him dead.

So well done, great work again today, and so just finishing off with that quiz to check all that learning that you've done today.

Well done.